The saddest part is how relatively little extra $ needed to be spent to take the roster over the top. It was very obvious 1 more hitter for depth/ DH rotation was needed along with another SP for depth/insurance to the very iffy combo of Cease and Rodon.
I never expected him to spend huge on a SP like Bauer, but JR bumping the payroll up to a whopping 146/147 would have made a ginormous difference. Imagine this roster with LaStella and Robby Ray? That’s so little for a fanbase to ask for...
Also out of curiosity, how much of a talent evaluation issue do people think plays into this? Is JR really the evil owner that refused to spend another penny, or did our front office evaluate the roster and think it was good enough? I feel like a good portion of the blame can be put on JR, but I do think some blame gets lost going in the Hahn/KW direction.